Visitors at Whinlatter watched on television screens as KL, the ringed female, laid her first egg at Bassenthwaite on April 23, followed by another two eggs on April 26 and 29. It is believed that she has returned from Africa with the same unringed male as last year to the same site.

Meanwhile further south in Cumbria a pair of the Ospreys have settled at a peatbog near Witherslack and it is hoped that the site will get its first chicks later this year.

The male has a white ring on his right leg, indicating he was born at Bassenthwaite in 2008 and the female has a right blue leg ring and was born in Kielder Forest in 2010.

The site is a large expanse of raised bog close to the River Kent and Morecambe Bay – both good sources of fish.

Yesterday, too, proved a rare highlight for racegoers as three Cheltenham Festival horses went on parade for Veterans Day.

Chief Dan George, who is trained just a mile from Cartmel by Jimmy Moffatt, was joined by Mister McGoldrick and Hussard Collonges.

“We have had a lot of people who are on half-term holiday but it’s also the day when racing enthusiasts from all over the country come and have their day at Cartmel because the course is slightly less overcrowded,” said Mr Garratt.

Meanwhile, a racing steward became the first person to join an exclusive Cartmel ‘club’.

Officiating at Saturday’s races signalled a landmark for Colin Vickers — it meant he had visited every racecourse in Britain.

Cartmel Racecourse chairman Lord Cavendish presented Mr Vickers with a souvenir badge, which coincided with the launch of an I’ve Saved The Best Until Last club.

Anyone completing a visit to all Britain’s racecourses with a trip to Cartmel will now receive one of the specially-commissioned badges.

Mr Garratt said: “When I came here I was amazed how many people said they had been to every other racecourse before they tasted the unique delights of Cartmel.